Golems
Golems (also known as'' Automatons, Shabti, Animunculi, Robots, Spartoi, Constructs'') are autonomous constructs made from non-living materials that are created though a highly complex ritual. A golem usually has no free will of its own, as its sole purpose for existence is to serve its creator's wishes. In the region of Celestia's Influence, the creation and use of golems has become strictly regulated due to a highly controversial and publicized incident involving a "rogue abomination" created by brilliant but mentally unstable unicorn doctor/sorcerer from Germaneigh. Appearance Golems vary in size and appearance due to the personal preferences of their creators and their intended purpose. A majority of golems are made with the intended purpose of helping with household tasks, so they are usually diminutive bipedals with hands and a basic frame that is vaguely similar to a minotaur or a canid. However, it is possible to make much larger golems that can be used for a wide number of greater uses, ranging from cheap manual labor to being used as nigh-invincible guardians. Though it's impossible to give a golem the ability to fly or use magic, many golems are capable of reassembling themselves should they ever experience heavy damage. Like Dragons, golems need to take in errant ley in order to continue functioning, and some golems are even capable of absorbing the energy of all but the most powerful of magical attacks in order to "refuel" and repair themselves. Golems are traditionally made with several "imperfect" features. These intentional deformities usually include only a single gemstone eye; missing facial features, most notably the mouth; relatively thick bulky limbs; virtually non-existent necks or tails; and misshapened feet. According to superstition, this tradition is meant to make the golem look like an incomplete being, which supposedly prevents it from gaining an identity —''' and thus its own independent life '''— and possibly rebelling against its master. Composition Many golems will also vary in composition, depending on what resources and materials their creators had available and the artistic skill of their creators. Most golems are made from clay or stone with bits of metal, though wood and wax are also popular choices. Those skilled with sewing can create "rag doll" golems out of various fabrics and stuffing, while some of the more technologically skilled have managed to craft beautifully complex "clockwork" golems. It is even possible to create golems that incorporate the bones and/or flesh of the recently deceased, though most consider this taboo for fairly obvious reasons. Behavior & Obedience When made properly, a golem has no free will of its own and is nearly incapable of making any decisions for itself. A golem will follow whatever orders it has been programmed with — 'even if those orders result in the golem's self destruction '— until those orders have been fufilled or their master orders them to stop. Golems are designed not to feel fear, doubt, persuasion, mercy, or anything else that vaguely resembles an emotion or conscience. In the end, golems exist for one reason and one reason only: to do whatever their master orders. Some claim that the reason golems are so willing to obey the will of their masters and only their masters is because during the creation process, a tiny piece of their master's soul is placed inside every golem. Having a piece of soul is also believed by most to be how golems are able to move on their own in the first place. Though this hypothesis makes a good deal of sense, it has yet to be proven with any certainty. If this hypothesis were true, it is unknown what would happen should the golem continue to exist after their creator's death. Creation Ritual The exact details of the ritual used to make a golem is a closely guarded and regulated secret to those who are well-versed in the craft of "Golem-ology." However, it is widely known that Drakonda teeth, Mandrake root, and Ouroboros blood are some of the key ingredients. It is also known that the ritual itself involves drawing errant ley into the golem figure and using a specially crafted "guiding crystal" as the artificial creature's power source and brain. During the creation ritual, the creator usually programs a specific "shutdown code" into the golem's processing crystal, in the event that they wish to safely destroy it for whatever reason. It is also known that golems take a long time to prepare, at least a month, some say even longer. This is because the ritual requires quite a large amount of errant ley to be absorbed and just as much precision and accuracy in crafting the crystal brain to make sure everything works properly. Trying to make a golem is not recomended for amateur spell-casters. Though golems are commonly used in Heliopolis and some other parts of the Outer Kingdoms, their creation and use has been strictly forbidden within the Celestine Empire in recent history. Trivia *The bio-mechanical abominations protecting the lower levels of the Ping Catacombs are believed to be some variety of modified golems. *In recent years, Spark Industries has been petitioning the Celestine Empire to lessen the strictness of regulations on golem experimentation. This is due to the belief that mechanical automatons can potentially be used to perform occupations, such as mining, or explore places too dangerous for normal lifeforms, such as areas with deadly amounts of ley radiation. *Some particularly skilled mages can create a small number of "temporary golems" from dirt or snow. Since these temporary golems are powered only by the mage's own concentration and magic, they only last for a relatively short amount of time compared to "proper golems" (several minutes to an hour or two) and they will immediately crumble when hit with a very powerful magical attack. Inspiration *"Rag doll" golems are based on the "raggedy mares" from the Doctor Who/MLP:FiM crossover fan fiction 'Traveler' by Squeak. *The Golem of Prauge. *Ancient Egyptian Shabti dolls. *The Spartoi, undead warriors sown from the teeth of dragons in Greek mythology. Category:Items Category:Artifacts